Threshold
by HitTheRoad
Summary: In which Jack fights his decision of leaving Ralph to die in the middle of a furious storm. Jack/Ralph.


Summary: "If you die, then I'll become chief. You won't be in my way anymore". In which Jack fights his decision of leaving Ralph to die in the middle of a furious storm. Jack/Ralph.

…

A dark veil covered the vast expanse of blue, above the island. The wind was howling and the waves crashed violently against the massive rocks, at the bottom of the mountain, and fell on the shore, before they retreated and returned with a stronger force.

The lost boys moved restlessly around the badly built huts, some of them watching the sky, agitated. They sensed the terrifying storm, but they didn't know what to do. Their fair haired chief was asleep in one of the huts, while the leader of the hunters stood on one side, farther from the rest of them, carelessly sharpening his spear with an edgy rock.

Many of the older boys threw him careful looks, intent on asking him what to do, if the other chief was unavailable, but none had the necessary courage to approach the tall redhead, with his fits of anger and quick temper.

When the waves started reaching the area where the boys resided, some of the littluns began crying, while a few of the older boys took a leap and disappeared into the jungle scared, searching for safe hidings. Piggy and Simon shared tense, apprehensive looks, before Piggy nodded, signing Simon to go and wake up Ralph. They were both a little reluctant that they had to awaken the boy from his peaceful slumber, but this was an urgent matter. They were in danger.

After a few, slight pushes, the fair haired boy slowly opened his eyes, sleepy and confused, as Simon's face made itself clear above him. He stood up, bewildered.

"Something bad is going to happen." The dark haired, short boy announced frightened, as he pointed at the hut's roof, which was now shaking violently. "I think a hurricane is approaching. We need to find safer shelter." He carried on, in a small, insecure voice.

Ralph frowned and stood up in a hurry, panic surging through him when he saw the chaos from outside. He heard the younger boys' cries, he saw the older ones looking half relieved at his appearance, half terrified by the sudden change in the weather. Ralph was a little perplexed at how the older ones wouldn't do anything without a leader's order or consent and just stood there, fidgeting frightened like animals.

The blonde boy hurriedly drew near, before he made his voice loud between vociferous wind and the violent sounds of the waves.

"We'll go to the cave, at Castle Rock!" He almost yelled and that's when he saw some sort of ease pass over them, at the indications. Simon and Piggy helped Ralph steer the littluns like a flock of sheep, while the remaining bigguns, most of them being Jack's hunters, went ahead. He could see the dark heads of Roger and Maurice, as well as the fairer locks of Robert and Bill distancing themselves from the rest of them, through the jungle, leaving them with the heavy burden of the littluns.

"Bloody cowards." Ralph muttered bitterly under his breath. Then, he suddenly stopped as something dawned on him. The red hair was nowhere to be seen around them.

"Where's Jack?" He asked Piggy, who shrugged, uncaring.

"I dunno. I thought he left along with Roger and the others." The fat boy retorted in half a mouth.

Ralph felt an unease gnawing at his gut, so he turned with the intention of returning to the beach, after Jack, but, just as he pushed the thick leaves aside, the redheaded boy suddenly jumped from the green mass, a few feet away, looking pumped and excited, going into the opposite direction from the other boys, not even noticing them.

"Jack!" Ralph called in relief. "Come on, we've got to go!"

The hunter turned his head and Ralph was surprised at the gleam in his sharp, blue eyes.

"I'm going after the pigs!" He announced enthusiastically, tightly clutching the spear in his left hand.

Ralph felt annoyance and exasperation clawing at him. Good lord, not now. That boy's obsession with hunting was eating away at his nerves.

"What!" Ralph exclaimed. "You're mad! The hurricane is coming, you have to come with us to Castle Rock!"

Jack wildly shook his head, the gleam now stronger than ever.

"No! I know the pigs' hidings, they're scared, so they're in their spot right now! This is my perfect opportunity!" He grinned, the white of his teeth showing behind his mask like a slash. He turned again and Ralph's instinct was to go after him and grab his arm to stop him, but he suddenly felt Piggy's hand on his own arm, doing the same.

"Leave him!" Piggy shouted, trying to make his voice heard through the wild howling of the approaching storm. "We have to go, now!"

Ralph struggled free of his grip and made a few steps, but stopped when he realized Jack was even farther now.

"Jack!" He called again, scared. "You're going to die if you don't come with us!"

The other boy stopped for a fraction of second and turned his head, looking at Ralph, and the fair boy almost thought for a moment he convinced him, when he saw the hesitation on his face. But then Jack gave a scoff and disappeared through the mass of plants and Ralph felt the terror tighten in his stomach and the anger flare in his mind.

He stared in shock for a second at the spot that Jack had just left.

"Come on, Ralph!" Piggy's voice reached his ears again. "Leave Merridew, he's wacko!"

Ralph furrowed his brow tormented, before he shook his head in defeat and followed Piggy and the rest of the boys.

As they made their way with difficulty through the madness, he scrutinized the scene in front of him, trying to perceive the younger boys, who barely moved between the thick plants. Samneric were helping some of the littluns climb the harsh rocks of the mountain, as well as Simon, who was carrying one of the youngest boys on his back, and Ralph felt a sudden gratefulness for the boys and their kind spirits.

One of the littluns suddenly fell to the ground in sickness and started wailing and Ralph and Piggy stopped for him and noticed that he was badly hurt by the sudden, harsh movements. He had a few bruises and the boy's loud cries now scratched their ears even more than the wind's screeching. When Ralph helped him get on his feet, he saw the red, puffy eyes of Percival.

He grabbed the boy and put his small arms and legs around his neck and waist, carrying him on his back. Piggy loyally gave his aid the best he could, before they started climbing again. After not ten minutes, Ralph's foot suddenly caught in a thick, rough root and he gave a cry in pain, before he stumbled to the ground along with Percival, who began crying even louder.

Piggy was suddenly at his side and helped him unlock his foot and Ralph sensed a stronger panic go through him when he realized he couldn't move the leg too well. The ankle was swollen and the pain pulsed beneath the reddened skin.

"Ralph-" Piggy spoke frantically, but the fair-haired boy retorted quickly.

"Take Percival and go! I'll be right behind!" He instructed. Piggy paused, undecided, worry flickering over his features, but it seemed Ralph couldn't be moved from his decision. He nodded, reluctantly, before he took Percival's burden on his back and heavily moved between the branches and leaves. He threw one last panicked look at Ralph, who was now on his feet, but moving slower than ever. Piggy stopped again, pondering the thought of helping Ralph as well, but both boys knew he couldn't do it, his heavy weight and asthma being the two factors that diminished his strength. He barely managed Percival, let alone both of them, and Ralph knew it too, so he spoke again above the infernal noise.

"Go, Piggy!"

The fat boy nodded with a heavy heart, before he hardly swirled around and pushed through the jungle. When both boys disappeared from his sight, Ralph tried to move again, but it was to no avail. His breathing quickened from the pain and from the fear that struck his insides. He supported his weight on a nearby tree and tried to calm himself. There was almost half of the mountain for him to climb, until he reached the safe cave where the other boys had gone, and he was aware he couldn't do it. The ankle was burning and twitching so badly now, that he thought he might pass out from the pain. He tried to hop on one leg, but the mountain's unsteady terrain, along with the branches of the tall bushes that pushed him back and his wound made him lose his footing and collapse to the ground for the second time.

He remained there for a while, the jungle forest wildly beating around him and he turned his head in hopelessness. That's when he saw the powerful spark of orange locks approaching from the dark, to his left, and he almost exclaimed in happiness.

"Jack!"

The redhead took a few quick leaps and put a stop next to Ralph, who raised his head and looked at him in distress.

"I can't move, I hurt my ankle, help me!" Ralph spoke in agitation, struggling to get on his feet, even though it was useless. He expectantly looked up at Jack again, but his initial relief started fading away, when he observed Jack wasn't making any move, he was just staring down with the same mad glint from earlier.

"You can't move." Jack repeated in a blunt voice. He scanned Ralph's body for a moment, before his gaze landed on his swollen ankle, his fixed eyes boring into his skin. Ralph felt a sickness washing over him and he didn't want to think about it, but the horrendous realization still forced itself into his mind, against his will. It couldn't have been. Jack wouldn't have done that, despite his negative attitude towards everyone and everything, but the redhead's lack of reaction at Ralph's need for aid was planting the strong seed of doubt in his heart.

He already knew what Jack was thinking.

"If you die, then I'll become chief." Jack carried on, in the same serene, calm, frightening voice that contrasted severely with the wilderness around them. "You won't be in my way anymore." He concluded, the wild, red locks beating violently around his harsh, stony face.

The knot in Ralph's stomach tightened so hard, that he felt he was going to throw up at the words of the person he considered a friend, who was now looking at him without any feeling, like an animal that would watch a prey which had to die.

He felt horror, disappointment, sadness and, most of all, pain, so strong in his chest, that it consumed him entirely, whooshing in his ears louder than the storm and propelling through his veins like deathly poison.

"Jack, please don't…" He muttered tremulously and he believed he saw a flicker of sentiment in the redhead's eyes, but that flicker passed as soon as it came, so fast that Ralph was convinced it had been just his imagination.

The tall boy towered over him, breathing intensely, looking into the eyes of the helpless boy at his feet, and he hovered a little more, before he turned like a wildling and left him there, in the middle of death. Ralph wanted to call after him, the last speck of hope still lingering in his mind, trying to convince him that Jack had done it just on the spur of the moment, maybe because of fear or some sort of confusion that clouded his judgment, in the midst of the storm's terror, but he knew he was just lying to himself.

He was going to die. _Jack had actually left him there to die, on purpose_.

His head fell in the dirt, his cheek resting on the cool ground as he breathed heavily, in a weak attempt to calm himself. He felt wetness on the sides of his face and that was when he knew he was actually crying. He wasn't sure what was hurting more, the remote acceptance that he was going to die or Jack's betrayal. He had always had the knowledge that Jack was not a very pleasant person and that he didn't like people very much, his only purpose being the absolute control over his peers and that was it. But he couldn't have imagined that Jack was capable of wanting someone to die. _Of wanting him to die_. And because of such a selfish reason, too.

'This isn't worth it.' He inhaled deeply, before he let the heavy breath out. 'Nothing is worth it.'

Ralph took a few more gulps of the dusty air, before he pushed himself with all the remaining strength he had and lifted himself from the ground, sustaining his body on the tree again.

He wasn't going to give up. No matter what his feelings were right then, he had to shove them aside and fight for his life. He wasn't going to die like a pathetic human being, wailing in his sorrow. He wasn't going to fulfill Jack's wish.

After more tripping, he managed to climb at least a few feet. The rain started falling on him in a thick curtain, as the dark clouds boomed above him, a dance of lightning and thunder. The tall trees dangerously swayed, some of them bowing to the earth, their branches hitting Ralph from all directions. The boy realized he couldn't have caught up with the rest, even if he wasn't wounded, so he had to find another shelter from the storm, a closer one, but nothing came to his mind. All he could see in the darkness that surrounded him was the wild sea of dark green that threatened to swallow him up. The overwhelming fear prickled his skin again, as he desperately searched for something, anything, but, in his haste, the hurt leg gave up under him and he collapsed for the umpteenth time, giving a cry in frustration. He wasn't going to make it. With his last ounce of strength, he tried to crawl through the mud and the rain and the dirt, his clothes soaked, stuck to his now icy skin, and it happened so fast, that the fair haired boy barely had time to comprehend it.

The blinding flash of light struck the nearest tree and, with a deafening crack, the horrifying black trunk and huge, dark crown were heading towards him, through the air, like a beast. Ralph gave a desperate, painful, maddening scream, covering his face with his arms in a futile attempt, but nothing came. Not pain, not his body being crushed like a bug underneath the death that had lounged at him a few moments ago. He heard the tree crashing with a force that shook the entire ground and that's when he noticed there was a body above him, covering his own, and arms tightly surrounding his frame. He realized someone had pushed him away from his impending death and that someone was now lying on him with all his weight. Ralph opened his eyes and saw a pair of icy blue staring back at him.

"Jack!" The fair-haired boy cried in an almost suffocating happiness, mingled with shock. He tremblingly tried to mutter his gratefulness through kind words, but the stronger boy abruptly took him in his arms and placed him on his back.

"Just hold your arms tightly around my neck!" He shouted. Ralph nodded, still in a daze after the recent, baffling events. He felt Jack's hands grabbing his legs and placing them around his waist, with a bruising force, and Ralph tried to help him, by holding onto his back as hard as he could.

Another boom resounded through the air as the two scared boys made their way up the mountain, agonizingly slow due to the enraged nature that attacked them from all sides. Ralph was attentive to the surroundings and shouted warnings to Jack, every time he almost walked into large bushes or trees that would have stopped them from advancing or when trees were about to fall, so that the redhead avoided them on time. The harsh rain whipped both of their exhausted faces and the curtain of drops became so thick that the two of them could barely see at that point.

Ralph felt Jack slowing down, tired by all the pressure, his back muscles clenching under him. It was not long before the hunter stopped and slightly tossed to the side, pushed by the hurricane's rain and wind.

The fair haired boy didn't know what to do. He was lost and truly desperate for the first time in his life as he felt Jack violently breathing under him. Guilt consumed him, because he was the one who couldn't walk and Jack had to carry him. So he did the first thing that came to his mind, to ease Jack's burden. He moved restlessly and tried to get off of his back, but, as if suddenly recharged, Jack clutched Ralph's arms from around his neck and pulled them tight against his skin with one hand, as he grabbed the ankle that was not wounded and kept it in a harsh grip.

"Don't you think about getting off!" He yelled as he turned his head and threw Ralph a furious look. Ralph tried to protest.

"But you can't go-"

"Just shut up and stay there!"

The taller boy started moving again, between the rocks, as Ralph tightly clutched his back. Then, out of nowhere, Ralph felt his body being pushed in between large bushes that formed a small cave of green leaves. He couldn't see in the darkness, but he felt Jack hovering over him, as the rough branches hit them from everywhere. He couldn't sense much pain, only pinches along his body, but he could hear Jack's grunting, revealing that the older boy was in much greater physical pain above him, and Ralph realized Jack was sheltering him with his body.

He widened his eyes, the guilt and worry increasing now tenfold.

"Jack, don't!"

"Shut up, I said!" The redhead boomed above him. He came closer and covered Ralph's smaller body with his own and, in the darkness and the misty, violent air, Ralph could now see his face that held a determination, but also a strong, deep fear. He could see the details of his pallid face, all the small freckles bordering the bridge of his nose and spreading under his eyes, his skin now washed from all the paint and the mud that he used to wear on his face. He could see the red eyelashes that were visible, even in that blackness, and the powerful blue in his eyes, with shades of darker blue around lighter blue. The madness was completely gone, only acceptance and wanting and sorrow veiling his gaze. The fair boy felt like he had just seen right into his soul, like something intimate, something only Jack knew, had just been revealed to him.

His face was now only a few inches above his own and Ralph felt tremors on his skin and his heart beating harder than ever against his ribcage, like a small creature that wanted to escape.

"Ralph," He started and, if Ralph had thought his heart had beaten too hard until then, then he had been wrong. Because he felt as if it exploded when he heard the boy from above him say his name. "If we die, I want you to know that-" He swallowed heavily. "I don't hate you."

Ralph looked up, frozen, barely feeling the cold and the whipping around him, only seeing Jack, like a figure of awe above him, his last, unusual words echoing in his ears like a voice in a well. There was shock, apprehension and an anticipation that crawled on his skin, waiting for the move that would bring the two boys closer than they were, even though he didn't know if he had the necessary courage to do it. He knew society considered it wrong. But they were no longer in a society, there weren't rules and principles imposed, just them and an empty island, and they were on the verge of death, so he suddenly realized he didn't care anymore. Because he wanted to be close to Jack in ways that he had never been close to anyone else, ever, he felt the same wanting that he saw in Jack's eyes. Because that might have been his last chance to do it.

On instinct, with numb, tremulous arms, the fair boy brought them up to circle around the other boy's neck and bring him closer.

"I know." He murmured tenderly, before their cold, chapped lips touched briefly. The redheaded boy quickly embraced him with strong arms and an urgency that astonished him, as if he had expected it all along, taking him almost entirely into them, as he pushed back on Ralph's mouth, adding more pressure into the kiss. They stood like that, the wind and the rain raging around them, lips pressed and breathing through their noses, like two children that didn't know what to do, while they were sharing their first kiss.

And Ralph realized they were. They were two children that shared their first kiss.

They parted and looked at each other, bewildered and tormented by the act, and stood like that for a moment, staring at each other in wonder. Then Jack tightened his hold on him and completely surrounded him, protective, as he rested his forehead on Ralph's temple, his wet bangs caressing the fair boy's skin, and Ralph put his smaller arms around Jack's torso in comfort.

Their faces were wet and bruised, their bodies beaten, but they clung to one another, lost and frightened and content with each other's warmth, in the middle of the terrifying, furious nature.


End file.
